Compositions

Pound the Streets

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

This piece was commissioned for the National Youth Band of Scotland by the Scottish Brass Band Association for the Tartan Heart Festival 2010.

The Tartan Heart Festival is a huge musical festival that took place in the picturesque Belladrum Estate in Inverness-shire. It features many famous pop and rock artists including Feeder, Amy MacDonald, The Levellers, Divine Comedy and Badly Drawn Boy to name but a few.

Special guests to open the festival were the National Youth Band of Scotland who performed a programme of music that started with this piece Pound The Streets. As they were playing at a rock festival I wanted to compose a piece that didn’t follow the more traditional types of concert openers I have written in the past. So instead I opted for a fast paced piece that has a pounding rock rhythm from the drum kit and relentless riffs and ostinati from the brass ensemble.

I had lots of fun composing this piece as it is so different to a lot of music I have composed in the past. It gave me the opportunity to incorporate musical styles that I enjoy listening to when I am away from brass bands and to write in a pop/rock style.

So the end product is a brass rock piece that has lots of energy, a feel-good factor and is lots of fun to play and listen to. I hope you enjoy, Pound The Streets.
> Back to compositions overview